Basketball

Cone: ‘What would a Manila Clasico series be without Game 7?’

Norman Lee Benjamin Riego on Feb 20, 2017 05:16 PM

DESTINY. Coach Tim Cone says Game 7 is exactly where this Semis Clasico was supposed to end.

Ginebra had just won its must-win Game 6 last Sunday, but head coach Tim Cone was already eagerly looking forward to what was coming next.

“This is Game 7 – the two best words in sports. Both teams are going to be up for this one,” he expressed post-game after the Gin Kings blew out Star, 91-67, to set up a knockout bout in the Manila Clasico semifinals.

Cone’s words rings even truer for this particular series as Ginebra-Star is, and has been for a long while now, the most heated rivalry in the PBA.

That is exactly why the best-of-seven semifinals had to go the distance. As Cone put it, “What would a Manila Clasico series be without a Game 7? I guess this is the way it’s meant to be – that we’re supposed to play a Game 7.”

In the mind of the multi-titled mentor, the Gin Kings will head into that knockout bout on Tuesday as prepared as they will ever be. “Our guys have shown great resilience and great resolve the whole conference. So many times, we could have quit and said no mas (no more), but we just find a way to keep battling,” he expressed.

Still, Cone wasn’t one to make guarantees about the outcome of that sure to be intense game at the Mall of Asia Arena. “Game 7 is anybody’s game. It’s a 50-50 game,” he said.

He then continued, “Whoever comes out and has a better night is gonna win Game 7. Frankly, that’s how I always think of Game 7s.”